Ryerson Press
by George J. Dance The Ryerson Press was the secular and trade imprint of the Methodist Book and Publishing House (later the United Church Publishing House) based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The imprint had a long history and a record of supporting Canadian authors. History The Methodist Book and Publishing House (MBPH) was the first publishing company in Canada. It began in 1829 as the Methodist Book Room, a publishing company founded by the Methodist Church to issue mainly denominational publications. The first editor of the firm was Egerton Ryerson,James Marsh, "Ryerson Press, The", Canadian Encyclopedia (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988), 1905. Print. editor of the Methodist newspaper, The Christian Guardian. In its early days, "the MBPH's primary concern in terms of original publishing had been denominational in focus, with an emphasis on periodical rather than book production."Janet Friskney, "The Birth of The Ryerson Press Imprint," Historical Perspectives on Canadian Publishing, McMaster University. Web, June 19, 2011. William Briggs, who became book steward (general manager) of the firm in 1879, initiated a policy of using the revenue from foreign trade books to publish Canadian authors like William Wilfred Campbell, Sir Charles G.D. Roberts, and Catharine Parr Traill. Briggs held the position of book steward for over 40 years. Since its founding it had been MBPH policy to use the book steward's name as the publisher of its secular works. In consequence Briggs's name appears on many Canadian books of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The name was changed to Ryerson Press in 1919. Samuel Farris, who succeeded Briggs as book steward in 1919, broke with tradition, deciding to put an imprint on the secular line. "Ryerson's name presented itself to Fallis and the church book committee to whom he reported as an appropriate choice for the house's new trade book imprint. Indeed, it was an inspired one.... In self-consciously adopting such a distinctive trade imprint, Fallis exhibited more interest in the MBPH's trade book arm from the outset of his tenure than any of the book stewards who had preceded him." In 1920 Farris hired Rev. Lorne Pierce, asking him to develop a "live publishing programme." Pierce joined the firm as a literary adviser in 1920, then became its editor-in-chief in 1922. "During the next several years, Pierce firmly established the new policy, issuing Canadian literary, historical, and educational books by the likes of Frederick Philip Grove, Katherine Hale, Tom MacInnes, E.J. Pratt, and Isabel Skelton, as well as launching two significant series: the Makers of Canadian Literature and the Canadian History Readers." The Canadian Encyclopedia says that Pierce "typified the enthusiastic nationalism of English Canada in the 1920's: he launched the important Ryerson Chapbook poetry series, the pioneering Makers of Canadian Literature volumes of criticism, and the textbook series, The Ryerson Books of Prose and Verse."Sandra Campbell, "Pierce, Lorne Albert," Canadian Encyclopedia (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988), 1677. Print. At Ryerson, Pierce "championed Canadian writers and writing for over 40 years." He helped the careers of many promising writers like Frederick Philip Grove, Earle Birney, and Louis Dudek. By the 1960's, the "United Church now owned the publishing house and was wondering if it belonged in the publishing trade, competing with privately owned firms. Throughout the sixties, many attempts were made to reorganize the house. But by the end of the decade it was decided that the Ryerson Press would be offered to sale to a company that would keep the name and the list alive.""History," McGraw-Hill Ryerson, McGrawHill.ca, Web, July 12, 2011. Ryerson Press became a symbol of concerns over issues of Canadian nationalism in the book publishing industry in 1970, when the United Church Publishing House sold the imprint to U.S. firm McGraw-Hill. The sale "was one of the main events to prompt the establishment of the Ontario government's Royal Commission on Book Publishing in 1970." After the sale, McGraw Hill adopted the imprint McGraw-Hill-Ryerson. The firm operates in Whitby, Ontario. Ryerson poetry chapbooks Between 1925 and 1962, the Ryerson Press published the Ryerson Poetry Chapbook series: 200 short, artisanally printed books of poetry by emerging and established Canadian authors, edited by Lorne Pierce. During World War II. Pierce decided to orient the series toward literary modernism. As Gillian Dunks describes the literary shift: :Modernist poets gained high cultural capital in both the Ryerson series and the broader field of Canadian literary production because of their appeal to an audience of male academics whose approval ensured their legitimacy. Late-romantic poets, by contrast, lost cultural capital due to their inability to captivate an audience of academic “tastemakers” and, in some instances, due to their gender, as editors frequently framed female poets as opposed to emerging modernism to dismiss their work.Gillian Dunks, Reading the Field of Canadian Poetry in the Era of Modernity: The Ryerson poetry chap-book series, 1925-1962 (2011), University Theses and Dissertations, University of British Columbia. Web, Mar. 7, 2018. In the 2000s, Ronald P. Frye & Co. began re-issuing the Ryerson Poetry Chapbook Series in batches of 25 titles from the series. As with the originals, each volume was limited to a run size of 250 copies (hand numbered for authenticity). Each volume had specially commissioned cover art by a young Canadian artist."Ryerson Poetry Chapbooks," Ronald P. Frye & Co., Web, June 19, 2011. See also *List of Canadian book publishers References Notes External links * Ryerson Press in the Canadian Encyclopedia. * Janet Friskney, "The Birth of The Ryerson Press Imprint" at Historical Perspectives on Canadian Publishing. * McGraw Hill-Ryerson Official website *Reading the Field of Canadian Poetry in the Era of Modernity: The Ryerson poetry chap-book series, 1925-1962 Category:Book publishing companies of Canada Category: Companies based in Toronto Category:George Dance articles